Improvement in locks and keys



To all whom it may concern UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E. A. H. GAEBEL, or NE'vvYoEKfrtY.

IMPROVEMENT |N` LOCKS AND KEYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,4176, dated Ma-y 12,1F63.

Be it known that I, FR. A. H. GABEL, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks andtheir Keys; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear,and exact description ot the construction and operation of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in Which.-

Figure l represents a perspective view of said lock, when the key'holeplate is detached therefrom, showing the interior arrangement ot' thelock. Fig. 2 represents the inner side of' the key-hole plate inaperspective View. Fig. 3 represents a perspective View of the outside ofthe key-hole plate. Fig. 4 represents a cross-section through the lock.Fig. 5 represents a side viewof the key. Figs. 6, 7 8, 9, 10, 11, and l2represent detached views, hareinafter to be referred to.

The common locks used on doors, drawers, closets, &c., owing to theproportionate low price at which they are required by the public, aregenerally made 'of cast-iron 01 metal, and their parts iitted togetherwithout employing great artistical skill or a high finish ot'workmanship. These locks, although they generally work well, have thegreat disadvantage that they may be opened with almost any skeleton key,and in many cases with common lock-keys.

My invention relates to this class of locks and it consists in suchimprovements on the common lock and key, by which the generalconstruction, workmanship, and price of the lock is not aifected, butwhereby 1 am enabled to use a key of a peculiar construction whichaifords ample protection against opening the lock by common or evenskeleton keys, thus furnishing a cheap and perfectly secure lock forallordinary purposes.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to de scribe its construction and operation.

A represents the lock-case. B represents the sliding bolt, which isguided by the boltpin C. D represents the spring-lever for locking thebolt, and E the spring of the springlever, these parts constituting theprincipal features of any of the common locks in use. The key of thislock (represented in Fig. 5) has a hollow shank, F, which is slippedover thekey-pin G. Ithas adouble bit, (represented at a and b,) and theshape of these bits may be made as represented in Fig. 5, where they areset at an angle, and, when turned on the axis of the key, describe thecircumference of a cone. The base of the key-pin G constitutes a cone,d, which corresponds to the inner shape of said key-bits, a b, and aninverted cone, g, is formed on the inner side of the keyhole plate,which corresponds to the outer shape of said key-bits, and the bits aand b therefore turn in a hollow conical space between the cone d andinverted cone g, into which, consequently, no key can be entered unlessits bits have the exact conical shape of said space. The outer ends, 1and 2, ot the respective bits a and b perform two distinct operations.rlhe end 2 acts on the spring-lever D, to release the bolt prior tooperating the same, and the end l enters the notch m of the bolt to lockor unlock the same, as shown by red lines in Fig. l. The configurationrepresenting an end View of said bit, or the shape ot' the key-hole M,may be changed iu unlimited variation without much complicating thesame, and such configurations as represented in Figs. 8, 9, 10, 1l, and12 may be used, which admits of an endless variety of simple keys, andwhich do not require high mechanical skill to be made but the conicalshape of the bits a b (represented in the drawings) may also be modifiedad infinitum, not only in alterin g the shape of the cone by making itlonger or broader, but also by using rounded or curved figures, asrepresented in Fig. 6, or zigzig shapes, as represented in Fig. 7, orcylindrical forms, or any desired form by which an annular passage ofvarious inclinations or curvatures is formed in the lock, and in whichthe key can freely turn. The cone d and inverted cone g, being formed onthe respectivelock-plates, may be turned on any common lathe, andtherefore require very little labor to be reduced to their propershapes, and the shape of the key-bit, varied as they may be, does notrepresent intricate forms and'hardly requires more labor in themanufacture than the common keys used heretofore. No key can be insertedin this lock which has not the peculiar shape corresponding with theannular passage described herein, besides the lock is so constructedthat it can be operated with a double key-bit only, and as the key-pinG, vin the center of the keyhole, takes up considerable of said space,it is a very difficult matter to enter said lool; even with a skeletonkey. y Having thus fully described the nature of my invention, what Iclaim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Paten1;,is-

1. A key having two bits, When-said bits are curved or stand under anoblique angle with the geometrical axis of the key, substantiall y inthe manner and for the purposes herein described.

2. In combination with a double key-bit, substantially as hereindescribed, the annular concave g and convex d Within Jshe lock and inthe line of the key-hole, substantial] y in the manner herein described.

FR. A. H. GABEL. Witnesses:

E. COHEN, J ULIUs HrRseH.

